Hockey Hall of Fame induction 2015

At the same time, with Lidstrom and Sergei Fedorov becoming the eighth and ninth players of that memorable ’02 Wings squad to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, it truly serves as a reminder of just how special that Stanley Cup champion squad really was.

At a scouting combine in Toronto prior to the 1993 NHL Draft, Ray Shero noticed a tall, lanky defenseman from Peterborough of the Ontario Hockey League unable to move the 135-pound bar at the bench-press station.

Who’s in: Sergei Fedorov, Bill Hay (as builder), Phil Housley, Peter Karmanos Jr.

Bowman, too, credits Lewis with being “a good influence on Nick’s career, because he knew how to play”. “Nick was described to me as young boy who was a fluid skater, had fabulous hockey sense and really knew how to play the game”. “He could fight, he would play with an edge”.

Should there be wide-open, high-scoring games all the time?

Lidstrom played the point on power plays to perfection. When he was in his prime, there wasn’t a weakness in his game that you could exploit. “It’s been a great opportunity to kind of learn the business side of the game”. He won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP in 1994. “I don’t think that players didn’t appreciate him”.

Housley has ties to Bowman, who had seen Housley play high school hockey and knew right away he wanted him on his team.

“You knew you were in someone’s kitchen when they started talking back”, Pronger said. “You can’t keep them all”.

Lidstrom on his toughest opponent: “I’ve faced so many different players”.

“He was just so unbelievably positionally good, you could never shake him”, Hall of Fame member Mike Modano said.

Lidstrom was subtly spectacular, positioning his body to be in the right place at the right time on defense and putting the puck on a teammates’ stick or in the net at the other end of the rink.

Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers teammate: “When he got traded to Philly, what he brought to the team on and off the ice was special”. He was one of the most talented players I’ve ever played with, naturally gifted. “I came here as a different player, a smaller player”. “I had to do what I had to do to get back out there”. Coming from that same area, all you heard about was Chris Pronger. “We’re all looking for a No. 1 defenseman”.

Even Fedorov, a centre most of his career, played defence when the Wings needed him. Steen, 22 at the time, had just played his first National Hockey League season. “Let’s go to dinner”.

“I will say in Sweden, he wasn’t as big as people in North America would think he is because they never saw him”, Zetterberg explained. “I remember driving out of the arena and saying to [assistant GM] Tommy Rowe, ‘I’ve got to get this guy'”.

Watch as Lidstrom saves a sure goal against the San Jose Sharks in the 2007 Playoffs.

Pronger still has problems with his eye but called the symptoms “manageable”.

“Everyone says he’s the flawless human being and I think that says it all”, the Washington Capitals’ Nicklas Backstrom said.

Pronger emerged as one of the best players in the League during nine seasons with the Blues. Pronger won the Hart and Norris Trophy in 2000 and helped the Ducks hoist the Cup in 2007. “He likes hockey. You couldn’t ask more from a captain”. “He did that night in and night out, and he did it at the top of his game”. The team made it to the Finals in 2002 but never won the Stanley Cup. Commissioner Gary Bettman said Pronger has been “terrific” in his job. “He’s just a guy you want to be around. I guess that’s what made him special”. “When I first joined at 21, I thought I would play a few years, see what it would be like”.

That wasn’t the last puck Pronger picked up. He helped the Chicago Blackhawks win a Stanley Cup in 1961 before retiring in 1967, at the age of 31.

Asked after Game 2 where that puck was, Pronger responded, “In the trash. Without them I would not be close”. His teammates appreciated the levity. “That relieved a lot of pressure on the rest of us”.

Pronger said he tried for about a year and a half to play again, but his injuries were too severe. In 20 seasons, he missed just 42 games, and a dozen of those were in his a year ago, 2011-12. “… I can get [concussion] symptoms, but they’re not as strong or as painful, and that’s a positive sign”. Obviously, he didn’t need a Lady Byng win to make the Hockey Hall of Fame, but he should have had several.